Commonly, when working in a hazardous environment, which may be oxygen-deficient or which may expose occupants to toxins, pathogens, or other hazards, a worker wears a protective garment, which is made from sheets of liquid-impervious or fluid-impervious films or from sheets of liquid-impervious or fluid-impervious fabrics. Such protective garments are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,851, No. 4,864,654, and No. 6,364,980, which disclose suitable films, fabrics, and laminates and the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Fluid-impervious means gas-impervious as well as liquid-impervious. If a film, fabric, or laminate meets the criteria of ASTM Test Method D 739-85, the film, fabric, or laminate is considered to be liquid-impervious. If a film, fabric, or laminate meets the criteria of ASTM Test Method F 903-84, the film, fabric, or laminate is considered to be fluid-impervious. Other methods may be instead used to determine whether a film, fabric, or laminate is liquid-impervious or whether a film, fabric, or laminate is fluid-impervious.